One of the best ways to supercharge your miles and points is to combine forces with a family member / partner / friend. Whether that means opening credit cards together to combine the value of multiple introductory bonuses, pooling family mileage earning from paid flights, or sharing hotel points for a big redemption, there’s no doubt that working together can give you more options. Some programs make it easy to combine points and miles, though others (especially many airline programs) charge an exorbitant fee to combine miles (which can erase the value of doing so). This post is not an exhaustive list of programs that allow for combining or pooling of points but rather includes some of the easiest and/or most broadly useful.
Credit card points
Capital One miles
Key Details
- Can share with anyone
- No limits
Additional information
Capital One miles are the most highly sharable among transferable points currencies. It is possible to share Capital One miles with anyone else who has a miles-earning Capital One card, you just need to call the number on the back of your card and provide your cardholder information as well as the card number of the person with whom you would like to share your miles.
It is even possible to move cash back earned on a Capital One card that earns cash back to miles on a miles-earning card.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points
Key Details
- Can share with 1 household member or business partner
- No cap
- Can move cash back to transferable points
Additional information
It is possible to “combine points” (Chase’s terminology for moving points from one account to another) with one household member or one business co-owner. There is no limit to the number of points that can be moved this way.
American Express Membership Rewards points
Key Details
- No sharing, but can move to points to an authorized user’s / employee cardholder’s loyalty programs after 90 days
Additional information
American Express Membership Rewards is arguably the least sharing-friendly of the bank point currencies since it is not possible to directly share points in Membership Rewards form. Instead, points are pooled by social security number, so an individual who has multiple consumer and/or business cards automatically sees Membership Rewards points as a single combined balance, but can not move those points to someone else’s Membership Rewards account.
However, it is possible to transfer Membership Rewards points to the loyalty account of a primary cardholder or an authorized user / employee cardholder after he or she has been an additional cardholder on the account for at least 90 days. If you have multiple Amex cards, you’ll need to first select a card on which you have the additional cardholder listed before selecting to transfer points in order to be able to select that person as the recipient of the points and enter their frequent flyer or hotel account information.
Citi Thank You points
Key Details
- Can share with anyone who has an eligible Citi card
- Points expire 90 days after transferring to another Citi cardholder
- Can share / receive up to 100,000 points per year
- Can not share points earned from Custom Cash card
Additional information
On the surface, Citi looks similar to Capital One in that points can be transferred to anyone with an eligible Citi card, albeit with a limit of up to 100,000 points (which is to say that a cardholder may share up to 100,000 points per year and a cardholder may receive up to 100,000 points per year). For instance, if Bob has a Citi Double Cash, he can transfer points to Susan’s Citi Strata Premier.
The major catch is that shared points expire after 90 days, so the recipient must be ready to use them or lose them. For that reason, it only makes sense to share points with another cardholder when they are ready to make use of those points right away.
Also keep in mind that the Citi Custom Cash does not allow for moving points earned from that card to other Citi cardholders.
Airline miles
Air Canada Aeroplan
Key Details
- Allows for up to 8 family members to pool points together
- Points from all members are automatically pooled into a combined balance that all members see when logged in
- Members with redemption privileges can redeem points from the shared balance
- If you have an Elite Status Member or a primary Aeroplan Credit Cardholder in your group, everyone gets to benefit from their preferred pricing (meaning that you can often redeem for Air Canada flights at reduced award prices)
- For more information or to create a points pool, see this page.
- Also see our post about this feature for more information
Additional Information
Air Canada Aeroplan originally launched this feature in 2020, but had to pause it for a long time in order to create better security features to prevent abuse. It came back earlier this year and seems as good as ever.
This program is really well put together. The entire family can pool miles together, with a Verified Family Lead able to control access to redemption permissions for pool members. Those with redemption privileges will redeem from the pooled balance, with points being taken proportionally from each of the accounts in the pool.
Additionally, if a single member of the pool has elite status or is a primary Aeroplan Credit Cardholder, everyone in the group can take advantage of the same benefits, which means access to reduced pricing on Air Canada award tickets.
Note that Air Canada Aeroplan now requires account verification for points pooling, so you will likely need to provide ID in order to get verified for this feature.
Spirit Free Spirit
Key Details
- Free Spirit Silver or Gold members or Free Spirit Mastercard holders can become a “Pool Pilot” (create a pool)
- The Pool Pilot can invite up to 8 friends and family members to join the pool (invited members do not need elite status or the credit card)
- Points earned by all members of the pool are automatically combined into the pool
- The Pool Pilot is responsible for points redemption of pooled points
- Link to more information at Spirit
- Also see more in our post
Additional Information
The Free Spirit Points Pooling feature works smoothly for those with elite status or a credit card — simply create the pool and invite members. Once they accept, the Pool Pilot can redeem points from the combined balance. Each member of the pool retains access to their individual points balance, but the Pool Pilot can redeem from the combined balance. If you travel Spirit with a family and earn points on things like baggage fees or even from promotions, this can be an easy way to combine earnings into a useful balance for redemption even with just a couple of flights.
United Mileage Plus
Key Details
- A maximum of five people can be in a pool (including the pool leader).
- All members can contribute miles to the pool, but each member can decide how many miles to contribute. Once miles are contributed to the pool, a member has up to 24 hours to reverse the contribution. After that, the miles are stuck in the pool.
- Only the pool leader can redeem the pooled miles unless they authorize pool members to redeem them.
- Pooled miles can only be used to book United and United Express-operated flights. You can not book partner awards with pooled miles.
- You can only participate in one pool at a time. If you leave a pool, you lose access to the miles you contributed. The member leaving the pool can not join another pool for 90 days and the pool can not accept a new member for 90 days.
- In the event that the pool leader dissolves the pool, miles get distributed equally among all members of the pool
- Create a pool online here
Additional Information
United’s points pooling feature is listed here because it has some potential, though it is very complicated and full of unexpected “gotchas” for members who aren’t fully aware of its limitations / features.
Of key importance is the fact that pooled miles can only be redeemed for flights operated by United or United Express. Miles entered into a pool can not be used to book partner awards. That said, if the pool leader dissolves the pool, miles are split equally among members of the pool and can once again be used for partner redemptions.
The fact that miles are distributed equally among pool members can be a feature or a bug depending on your intentions. For instance, imagine that Bob creates a pool and is the lead member of a pool between Bob, Mary, and Sam. Bob contributes 10,000 miles, Mary contributes 50,000 miles, and Sam contributes 150,000 miles for a combined balance of 210,000 miles. If Bob dissolves the pool, Bob, Mary, and Sam will receive 70,000 miles each. Note that Sam will not get back the 150K miles that Sam contributed. If Sam first leaves the pool and then Bob dissolves the pool, Bob and Mary will end up with 105,000 miles each (Sam won’t receive any miles if Sam leaves the pool prior to Bob dissolving it). That could make for a frustrating surprise for members who are not aware of how the process works or it could make for a handy way for a family to combine miles into a larger, more useful balance (if Sam and Mary both leave the pool, Bob will end up with 210K miles when the pool is dissolved).
Hawaiian Miles
Key Details
- Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard holders (business or consumer) can transfer miles to another member or receive miles from another member for no fee (up to 10 transactions per year)
- There is no minimum or maximum number of miles per transaction
Additional Information
The ability to transfer miles to another member or receive miles from another member for free is a great feature of the Hawaiian Miles credit cards. As long as either member of the transfer (the member sending or receiving) is a cardholder, there is no transaction fee or per-mile fee. However, note the limit of 10 free transactions per year, after which there will be both a transaction fee and a fee per mile.
This can be a great way for a family to combine miles. Also keep in mind that miles transfer from Hawaiian to Alaska 1:1, so it is possible for members of a family to move existing Alaska miles to Hawaiian and then combine on the Hawaiian side so long as one member has a credit card, later moving back to Alaska as need be.
Hotel points
World of Hyatt
Key Details
- Can share with anyone
- Technically must share for a redemption, but not enforced in practice
- No stated limits
- Must be done by emailing or faxing a form (which can be found online here). Not instant and can take up to a week or more.
- Can send or receive points one time every 30 days
Additional Information
World of Hyatt allows for free movement of points from one member to another without a hard limit on the number of points transferred, albeit with a somewhat complex process that can sometimes limit the utility.
In order to transfer points to another member, both members must fill out a points transfer request form and submit that form via email or fax. That process can take anywhere from days to a week or more. Alternatively, Globalists members with a My Hyatt Concierge (a 60-night milestone benefit) can submit the form to their concierge who may be able to process it more quickly (YMMV as my concierge usually takes several days to respond, but others are faster).
In addition to filling out a paper form and waiting for the transfer to process via email, Hyatt limits members to one points transfer transaction in or out of their account per 30-day period. In other words, once you send or receive points, you will not be able to send or receive for 30 days.
Hilton Honors
Key Details
- Hilton allows members to transfer or pool points (two different processes)
- Both processes can be completed online here (transfer is likely faster)
- Each member can send no more than 500,000 points and receive no more than 2,000,000 points per calendar year via Points Pooling or Transfers (combined limit)
- Each member is limited to making 6 transfers to other member accounts and 6 points pooling transactions per year
Additional Information
Hilton offers two different processes by which one member can share points with another member, Points Pooling and Points Transfer. In my experience, Points Transfer is the simpler / faster process, but keep in mind that each member can make no more than 6 transactions of each type per calendar year up to the point limits listed above.
For a points transfer, you’ll just need the name, Hilton Honors number, and email address of the member to which you’d like to transfer. In my experience, transfers of this type are completed more or less instantly.
For a points pool, the member who wants to receive points will need to create the pool and send invitations for each member who would like to contribute points. You’ll need the names and email addresses of each person you intend to invite to the pool (up to 10 members). Each member then receives an email and needs to confirm their desire to join the pool in order to transfer points to the creator of the pool. In my experience, it can take a few days for points transfers to complete via the Points Pooling feature, so I recommend Points Transfer as the easier option.
Marriott Bonvoy
Key Details
- Can transfer up to 100,000 points to another member / receive up to 500,000 points from other members per calendar year
- Can be done online here
- Both Marriott Bonvoy® Accounts must be in good-standing and have each been open for at least thirty (30) days with Qualifying Activity or ninety (90) days without Qualifying Activity
- Limit of 2 transfer transactions per month (giving or receiving) and 6 transfer transactions per calendar year (giving or receiving)
Additional Information
Marriott makes this process very easy. Simply log into the online tool, provide the required information, and transfer points to another member. Keep in mind the monthly and annual limits. Note that while a member is limited to giving up to 100K points per year to other members, the fact that this is a calendar year limit means that someone could make a transfer in December and another in January and move a total of 200K points within just a few days provided that the transfers occur in separate calendar years.
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IHG lets biz rewards members share points. It’s also free to sign up for the IHG biz rewards program.
AF/KLM Flying Blue allows family points pooling, not sure if you were only focusing on domestic airlines.
Great post Nick! I believe Wyndham Rewards lets you use points from 2 different accounts in order to book a single stay. Never done that personally, but heard it works.
Any idea how to do this? I’d be really interested in knowing more as a 2P household with 2 Wyndham biz cards.
I think you call WR and tell them you want to book a reservation with points from 2 accounts. You can only do this if you have enough points in each account to cover at least 1 night or the stay. For example, if you want to book a 3 night stay, if P1 has 30K points and P2 has 15K points, you can use points from both accounts to book the 3 night stay.
Jetblue has points pooling. BA has household accounts.
I left BA out intentionally because my recollection is that having a household account makes it difficult to move Avios between different Avios programs. If I’m not mistaken, you can not move Avios to/from the other Avios programs so long as you’re in a household account. I didn’t think it made sense to include that. I know there are a couple other foreign carriers that offer some sort of mileage pooling, though I didn’t think they really fit on a “best” list. For instance, Emirates allows for family pooling, but it’s got to be a pretty small percentage of readers who are flying Emirates paid flights often, and given the ability to combine points on the transferable currency side, it seemed less broadly applicable. Avios is more broadly applicable, but still seemed less so than the ones I included.
Just a data point on BA. We have had a family account for over 12 years on BA, but I was able to link my personal BA account (part of the family account) to Qatar. Now when I book with Qatar, it pulls my Qatar points down to zero and then pulls the rest from my BA account automatically. I didn’t know if it would work with a BA family account, but it does! Also, can’t speak from experience, but I thought I read that the BA family account issue with transferring points to others had been fixed within the past few years.
As DSK mentions, this is not really true (at least anymore). You can pool points together to book a ticket on BA, and you can still do transfers between Avios programs, but you cannot transfer other household member’s Avios to another of your programs. Data point: P2 and I are in a household account, and we recently transferred Avios from BA to Iberia to book tickets, without issue. P2 did not have enough to book his entire ticket, and he could not transfer from my BA account to Iberia.
Yeah I’m also in a BA household pool and have had no issues transferring to QR and IB from BA. Haven’t tried AY yet so can’t speak to that one.
Both aa and southwest allow you to share points if you have a business card
When you say that AA allows you to share points if you have a business card, do you mean moving points from the AA Business account to registered employee accounts? That’s a bit different than the others included here, but maybe it’s worth including, thanks!
Regarding Southwest, I had completely forgotten that the business cards offer up to $500 per year in fee reimbursements for transfers. I’ll add that, too. Thanks!
Wells Fargo allows a person to transfer bank points to any other person with a Wells Fargo card. No cap.
Good to know! I’ll add Wells Fargo.